Replies

StAntKnee,

Sounds like very solid advice. Any aspiring fiction writer will get value from your comments...

Laz,

Congrats. Sounds like a splendid start on a novel. But it's no surprise to say that because I've already seen you write a wide array of great stories that get people engaged.

I'm a former telecom industry analyst/journalist and lived in the Greater Atlanta area. On a lark, I once attended a local writer's group and discovered there's a vast network of people eager to write fiction and gain either fame (and not so much fortune) doing so.

The group is uses Meetup.com to publicize itself and is called Atlanta Writes. I

The meeting involved meeting for lunch at a Atlanta area restaurant (an Irish pub actually) and submitting beforehand a sample of one's work for review and commentary. It was a pretty young gathering. Sorry, no supermodels there :-)

But I remember the two or three organizers had some solid advice to give -- the kind of advice StAntKnee just delivered for you.

Many thanks for the compliment. Do you write? Either fiction or nonfiction?

What I’m learning (repeatedly) is that the biggest hurdle to achieving a readership is the ability to market. If to the legacy industry, you must market like crazy to agents. If self-publishing, well . . . to the world. My next project as a writer is to learn how to do that better.

I read some great advice from Taleb in The Black Swan. To the effect that one of the industries where you can create your own positive Black Swan is in publishing, and your opportunities are increased only if you get your writing out there.

One of my first steps is to help other writers, as many as I can, to advance their work. And, yes, there’s a self-serving interest, but that is how the bulk of civilization works—people helping each other. Not, as we so often see in the stories posted here, one segment of society tearing down others to elevate themselves.

Again, thanks for the commentary. I’m waiting to see if Laz comes back to seek more advice on structuring his story, which has a terrific potential.

Best, Jim

The group is uses Meetup.com to publicize itself and is called Atlanta Writes. The meeting involved meeting for lunch at a Atlanta area restaurant (an Irish pub actually) and submitting beforehand a sample of one's work for review and commentary. It was a pretty young gathering. Sorry, no supermodels there :-)

This sounds like a worthwhile endeavor.